The Abram and Sarah Ann Bennett Family of Green, New Jersey

Abram Bennett

I found nine photographs marked with the surname Bennett.  They were purchased together, and some of the inscriptions were in the same hand.  I started from the two most well-identified photographs.  The first is the cabinet card image you see above.  It was marked on the reverse in old ink:  "Abram Bennett, father of S. R. Bennett, Grandfather of A. S. Bennett."  There was also a photograph of a woman, inscribed "Wife of Abram Bennett, mother of S.R. Bennett, grandmother of A.S. Bennett (see below).

Mrs. Abram Bennett

Abram's photograph didn't have any other markings.  However, his wife's cabinet card had the photographer's imprint on the back:  Teush Studios, 695 Broad Street, Newark, N.J. and 208, Main St. Saugerties, N.Y.  Since several of the other photos I found were taken in New Jersey, I thought I'd focus on that locality first. The Teusch Studios used this address in Newark from 1886 to 1897.  Even though the cabinet card itself had the earmarks of an 1880s card, the image of Mrs. Bennett seemed to date to the 1860s or 1870s.  I suspect this image was reprinted from an earlier photograph.

The 1850 US Census turned up an Abram S. Bennet in Green, New Jersey (1850 U.S. Federal Census, Green, Sussex, New Jersey, Page 563, Dwelling 98, Family 108, Abram Bennet household).  The son, Sedgewick R. Bennet, born 1838 in New Jersey, looked like a good possibility for the "S.R." mentioned on the photographs.  Abram S. Bennet was born around 1815 and worked as a wheelwright.  His wife is recorded as Charlotte Bennet, born about 1819, New Jersey. In this document the Bennett surname is spelled with only one "t."

Did Sedgewick R. Bennett have any children with the initials A.S?  In 1880, Sedgewick and his wife, Margarett, are living in the home of Margaret's father, Alexander Wighton.  Their children were Honora, Robert W., Fannie and Alexander Bennett (1880 U.S. Federal Census, Dover, Morris, New Jersey, ED 52, Sheet 7, Dwelling 133, Family 148, Alexander Wighton household).  The 19-year-old son, Alexander, born November 1880, seemed like a good candidate for A.S.

Alexander's WW2 draft registration card confirms his middle name's initial is S (for  Sedgewick.)  (Ancestry.com. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.)  Have we found our A.S. Bennett?  I do believe we have. 

One of the other Bennett photos in the group is labelled, "Margaret Anne Wighton Bennett."   If we go back to the 1880 census mentioned above, you can see this fits into what we've discovered about Margaret Bennett's ancestry.